Tech Trends Changing Payroll World ERP
Posted by Glen Mund on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 @ 04:33 PM
by Cande Dandele, The Bottom Line September 2007
Over the past few years, enourmous changes have occurred in the payroll industry. Many of these changes are the result of technology developments that have made high-tech processes quite commonplace, and often necessary to stay competitive.
Although the goal of payroll is still to ensure that every employee gets paid the right amount at the right time, companies are constantly looking for better ways to integrate, communicate & automate.
Ten key technology trends are driving ERP payroll toward being a more strategic partner. Those who will adapt will be viewed as valued team members & those who don't will find it ahrd to keep pace with the change.
- 1. Integration of Payroll - a system that integrates both payroll & human resources creates a more effective strategic unit within the company. It supports compliance objectives, reduces cycle times & allows data to be shared among multiple systems through synchronization.
- 2. Web-based & Hosted Solutions - providing web-based access to our staff means that employees can work flexible hours & they can work from multiple locations, including home. Best of all, a company's business is up & running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- 3. Self-Serve Functionalities - These applications meet today's corporate objectives of increasing efficiency, decreasing cycle times & improving the accuracy of data. With self-serve systems in place, payroll clerks can spend up to 50% less time on payroll.
- 4. Workflow Automation - this is when a company's business processes are evaluated, translated into graphs in order to measure parameters like time & cost, automated to increase productivity & tracked so that inefficiences can be detected & problems rectified.
- 5. Paperless Technology - when electronic payroll solutions take the palce of the payroll paper trail, companies see fewer errors from manual reproting, streamlined timesheet approval, decreased inquiries to the payroll department & increased strategic benefits to the managers who can view data online & create reports highlighting areas to improve productivity. Other benefits include the cost savings that can be realized through reduced storage costs, and less impact on the environment through reduced paper usage.
- 6. Data Mining Across Multiple Systems - if systems can't be consoldiated, at least they can be mined for data. A company with multiple HR systems can extract data from each system on a regular basis & transfer it into a "warehouse" where various analyses can be done. This combined data can empower management with the knowledge needed to make investments or cut costs.
- 7. Security & Privacy -